Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/410423
ByMichaelR.Blood The Associated Press LOS ANGELES California Gov. Jerry Brown will re- turn to Sacramento for a re- cord fourth term after deci- sively defeating his Repub- lican challenger on Tuesday in a lopsided campaign in the state dominated by Democrats. The 76-year-old Brown is already the state's longest- serving governor. He logged two terms in the office from 1975 to 1983 and made his- tory again by winning the fourth term. Brown argued during the campaign that he led a comeback by the state after the recession cost California more than a million jobs. His victory came amid a tough political environ- ment for Democrats nation- ally, with widespread voter discontent with President Barack Obama. The governor's race topped a state ballot in which battles over congres- sional and legislative seats, and a handful of state and local initiatives, garnered the most attention. The major parties and their supporters focused most of their money on tight congressional races in- volving Democratic incum- bents in Sacramento, San Diego and Ventura County, as well as a handful of state legislative races that would determine whether Demo- crats would win superma- jorities in the Assembly and Senate. Voters also will settle statewide initiative battles over medical malpractice damages and health insur- ance rate increases, while deciding whether to bor- row $7.5 billion for water projects amid California's three-year drought. High-dollar battles over taxing sugary drinks were being waged in San Fran- cisco and Berkeley, while municipalities elsewhere were deciding local mea- sures about fracking and marijuana growing. Oak- land Mayor Jean Quan, em- battled over her handling of the Occupy protests and po- lice department, was fight- ing to save her job. Brown won re-election after a muted and some- times invisible gubernato- rial campaign in which the incumbent Democrat never appeared to be threatened by Neel Kashkari, a Repub- lican making his first run for elected office. A former U.S. treasury of- ficial, Kashkari helped lead the federal bank bailout during the recession. Brown, already Califor- nia's longest-serving gov- ernor, served two terms in the office from January 1975 to January 1983 before it was subjected to term lim- its. He was elected to the state's highest office again in 2010, his third term. No governor in the state's his- tory has served four terms. A career politician, he also ran for president three times and has served as state at- torney general, secretary of state and mayor of Oakland. The nation's most popu- lous state with more than 38 million people has long- term problems that include a looming government pen- sion crisis and troubled public school and water- supply systems. Brown, however, kept his campaign anchored to an optimistic narrative that featured the state's now-balanced budget and job growth since the re- cession. The Democratic- controlled Legislature ap- proved Brown's plans to send more money to high- need schools and restruc- ture sentencing laws to al- low lower-level offenders to go to county jails instead of state lock-ups. Brown spent most of the campaign promoting two ballot proposals that call for borrowing billions of dol- lars for a variety of water projects and for funneling more money into budget re- serves. The rainy day fund would help pay down bil- lions in pension obligations and other debt and provide a larger cushion against fu- ture economic slides. The 41-year-old Kash- kari depicted Brown, a one- time Jesuit seminarian, as a vestige of a vanished era. Brown, 76, the nation's old- est sitting governor, began his first term as governor when Gerald Ford was in the White House. Kashkari also argued the governor was ignoring the plight of troubled schools and protecting the interests of powerful teacher unions that spent millions to elect him. Yet Kashkari was un- able to raise enough money to boost his name recog- nition or get his message across to a wide audience. Turnout on Tuesday was projected to be just 46 per- cent, which would be the lowest on record for a Cali- fornia general election. ELECTION 2014 GOVERNOR Jerry Brown re-elected to unprecedented 4th term By Don Thompson The Associated Press LOS ANGELES A measure that would overhaul Cali- fornia's rainy day fund was drawing support from vot- ers in early ballot returns Tuesday. The measure would pay down more debt and provide a bigger buffer against fu- ture state budget shortfalls. Proposition 2 was favored by about 71 percent of vot- ers shortly after polls closed. The measure is the result of years of negotiations to address California's volatile budgeting, which typically means high spending dur- ing boom years and large deficits during recessions. Voters first approved a rainy day fund in 2004, be- fore the recession devas- tated the state budget and diverted annual payments that were supposed to go into the reserve. Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and law- makers negotiated an over- haul during the 2010 budget crisis, but Gov. Jerry Brown criticized his predecessor's proposal as too inflexible. Brown, a Democrat, com- promised with legislators of both political parties in May to put the revised pro- posal before voters. It would require the state to save 1.5 percent of its an- nual revenue, half the cur- rent requirement. The re- serve could grow to as much as 10 percent of the state's general fund, double its cur- rent maximum. ELECTION 2014 PROP 2 Rainy day fund up in early returns By Scott Smith The Associated Press LOSANGELES A $7.5 billion measure to revamp Califor- nia's outdated water system amid the state's historic drought appeared headed for an easy victory Tuesday. Proposition 1 would in- vest $2.7 billion in addition water storage, including two new reservoirs, along with billions more for con- servation, water recycling and groundwater cleanup. With nearly 2.5 million ballots counted, the mea- sure had 68 percent support. Backers, including Gov. Jerry Brown, said the drought underscores the need for California to take action now. Proposition 1 calls for directing the state to issue $7.1 billion in new borrowing and redirect $425 million from past bal- lot propositions. The proposal drew crit- icism from those who said these projects are years away from providing benefits. Opponents, including farmers in the Northern Californian delta and sport fishing interests, say at- tention to the state's wa- ter system is long overdue, but this initiative was not the answer. A group called Californians Against More Debt, Misplaced Spending argued that the measure would thrust the state into deeper long-term debt and do nothing to address the ongoing drought. ELECTION 2014 WATER BOND Prop 1 appears headed for approval By Kevin Freking The Associated Press LOS ANGELES Califor- nia has become a battle- ground state, at least as far as this year's congres- sional elections are con- cerned. Both major par- ties are looking to a hand- ful of races throughout the state to determine which side adds to their ranks in the House. With voters hitting the polls Tuesday, Republi- cans are working to re- verse a gradual decline within the state's congres- sional delegation. They are targeting three Demo- cratic freshmen who rode an independent redistrict- ing process and strong voter turnout to victory in 2012. Democrats are intent on picking up an open seat in an Inland Empire con- gressional district and to spring an upset in the Cen- tral Valley. A few other races are on the cusp of being compet- itive, but not to the point that either party was will- ing to dedicate significant money. Yet in an election in which low turnout and frustration with Washing- ton are the rule, analysts say a surprise or two could occur. Special interest groups aligned with both politi- cal parties have invested millions of dollars in inde- pendent expenditures into three races, suggesting those are the contests that party strategist believe are most up for grabs. Those matchups fea- ture: Democratic Rep. Ami Bera versus real es- tate developer and former congressman Doug Ose in a district containing the suburbs east and south of Sacramento; Democratic Rep. Scott Peters versus Republican Carl DeMaio in San Diego; and Demo- cratic Rep. Julia Brown- ley versus Republican Jeff Gorell, a state lawmaker, in Ventura County. Voters in those three dis- tricts have been subjected to wave after wave of neg- ative political ads and stacks of mailers. Democrats also spent big in the race to succeed retiring Republican Rep. Gary Miller. In that con- test, Democrat Pete Agui- lar, the mayor of Redlands, faces Republican Paul Chabot, a veteran and for- mer adviser in the White House Office of Drug Con- trol Policy. Democrats declined to follow through on ad buys in a heavily-Latino Central Valley district represented by freshman Republican Rep. David Valadao. How- ever, they did bring in Vice President Joe Biden and others to boost the pros- pects of Democratic can- didate Amanda Renteria. The head of the Na- tional Republican Con- gressional Committee, Rep. Greg Walden, said he is optimistic about the GOP's prospects in Cali- fornia, describing Presi- dent Barack Obama as an anchor around the necks of the Democratic incum- bents. ELECTION 2014 CONGRESS California a battleground in House races APPHOTO/LENNYIGNELZI Carl DeMaio, right, Republican congressional candidate in the 52nd District, talks with Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of the 49th District, in the lobby of a hotel which will host Republican candidates on election night in San Diego. 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